Enterprise Architect or Enterprise Archaeologist?

Do you sometimes feel like an Enterprise Archaeologist instead of Enterprise Architect? 🙂

Please indulge me as I talk IT for a second. Age old legacy systems, thousands of shadow applications, complex dependencies and inability to respond to changing business needs – this is far too common of a sight that an Enterprise Architect is presented with. This especially comes to the forefront when consolidating data centers, evaluating major ERP implementations, upgrading operating systems and upgrading applications etc.

It is very important to use any (or each!) of these opportunities to dig up and organize the findings in a ready-to-use form for future use, for example – a global application inventory, an up to date business process model, key risk areas etc. I like to see these digging expeditions as golden opportunities that allow us to mature architecture and lay the foundation for participating in major transformational programs in the future.

So don’t despair even if you feel like an archaeologist some times because it is an important phase in the evolution of EA. If done right, it can significantly contribute to achieving business outcomes!